Island in the Midst of Storms
by Griffinkhan
Summary: "The world consists of nothing but the murky green of the sea, my heartbeat throbbing in my ears as I slowly drown..." *one shot, F/S, sequel to Reflections in the Light of Venus*


[The computer room is dark and empty. Suddenly, an indistinct figure emerges from the shadows and turns on the computer. The person sits down at the keyboard and begins to type.]

Er, hi. Sorry about that. I had to sneak in here and write late at night so I could avoid Sheba. She _really_ doesn't like the idea of me writing Felix/Sheba...

This is the sequel to my one shot, "Reflections in the Light of Venus", and takes up where that story left off. Part of this contains dialogue right from the game, but I added in some lines for Felix because it's extremely stupid to think that he wouldn't say anything at all for however many months TLA covers when he seems to talk plenty in GS 1. All right, enjoy...

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. If I did, Felix and Sheba would be together and then my stupid muse couldn't complain about my shipping preferences anymore. So there :P

  


-------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAND IN THE MIDST OF STORMS  
  
by Griffinkhan --------------------------------------------

Darkness... pain... cold... 

The world consists of nothing but the murky green of the sea, my heartbeat throbbing in my ears in rhythm with the waves as I slowly drown...

I never knew water could be so freezing, but it can. It is so cold it burns. Every inch of my skin is engulfed by the frigid liquid, the frozen flames of hellfire. This is what the ocean feels like in winter, whether it is off the coast of Imil or in the temperate zone near Gondowan. It is cold, icy cold, especially to one who enters it unprepared after falling hundreds of feet from the top of Venus Lighthouse. I know this, better than anyone else, for I am experiencing that very scenario. I am in the water, the salt spray stinging and freezing me to the bone, swimming for my life. Why did I jump off that lighthouse? It was a stupid thing to do. Why did I do it?

Oh. Sheba.

Yes, I remember now. The memories begin to melt and trickle through my mind as the shock of the water wears away and my body adjusts to the new environment. It was for her that I jumped, to save her life from the raging waters I now battle. She is in my arms still, clinging to me with whatever ounce of strength she still possesses after the fall. She is unconscious, though, her body floating limply in the waves, my presence the only thing keeping her from sinking beneath the surface and drowning. My presence... Yes, maybe it was a good idea to jump after all.

Near to where we float, the waves rage against the rocks near the Lighthouse foot. They dash high against the cliffs and crash down again, devouring obstacles in their path. I cringe slightly, watching them. Anyone unfortunate enough to approach that shore would be instantly swept up by the waves and battered against the rocks until the water tired of its toy, then let go briefly only to be thrown up anew in another fit of childlike passion. The waters here are a small child, curious and completely unpredictable. There is no way for me to get both Sheba and myself ashore without attracting its deadly attention. It is therefore too risky to attempt landing anywhere near the lighthouse- trying would only result in the death of Sheba, or myself, or both of us. If I didn't have her to worry about, I might have tried to head back to shore, but with her here, that is not an option. I have to find another way.

Turning in the water as best I can, while trying to keep Sheba's head above water and avoid being sucked into the endless spin cycle of the Gondowan shoreline, I peer out to sea. The waves push against us, making us bob up and down as they make their way to die against the coast. It is the instinct of waves to do this, to rush ever onwards towards the shore, only to break and fall. I wonder if this is perhaps the nature of humans, as well. 

There doesn't seem to be any other way onto the coast; all around me are high, vertical cliffs raised during the earthquakes triggered by the lighting of the Venus Beacon. Too high to climb, too high to survive, all that is before me is the open ocean. Unfortunately, man is not a fish, and we won't last out here very long...

_I'm sorry, Sheba._ I think, glancing down at the girl who lies limply in the water, her blonde hair plastered against her face. _I saved you from the lighthouse, only to get you killed on the ocean. _I look at her, and wonder if I will ever hear her voice again, see her smile again, feel her touch again... I remember the last thing she said to me as we fell, her soft, melodious voice whispering the words I longed to hear...

_I love you, too..._

Why had I told her? It was stupid, to think that a relationship between us would work. She is Jupiter, I, Venus. She, a breeze blowing over a meadow, I, a solid, unmoving rock. Complete opposites. Not to mention that I am four years older than her... It seems impossible that I should love her, but yet, I do. I don't know why, I don't know how, but I do. 

Oh, well. We're going to die anyway. It's not going to matter for much longer. 

I grasp Sheba tightly to me, holding her head above the waves as I kick out further into the ocean. Maybe, if I round the headland and make towards Lalivero, I can find a beach to land on. Or maybe... Idejima! I remember suddenly. That is where my sister, Alex, and Kraden were going to meet us, that is where Menardi's ship is parked. And there was a beach there. I crane my neck around, searching for the mountains and the sandbar that indicate the peninsula.

The mountains are easy enough to spot. They jut towards the heavens from the shoreline to the west of the Lighthouse. Idejima should be just beneath it, except...

It isn't.

I look again. My eyes must be deceiving me, the glare of the water and the fatigue of the long fall playing cruel tricks with my mind. But there is no mistaking it. Idejima is missing, destroyed by the Lighthouse. I stop swimming for a moment, treading water as I stare at the spot where the peninsula used to be, trying to comprehend what has just occurred.

No. No. It can't be. If Idejima is gone, that means that Jenna... Jenna is...

Jenna was on Idejima. I told her to go there myself. She wouldn't disobey me in a matter as serious as this quest. She trusts me, although I have abandoned her, lied to her, fought against her best friends. Jenna is a very trusting person. It is her one weakness-- besides her temper, that is.

So she had been on the peninsula when it disappeared, sharing in whatever fate the gods dealt it. Perhaps she lies beneath the waves even now; her eyes clouded in death, staring out towards the lighthouse, waiting for the brother that will never come. Perhaps her spirit hovers above the water, stung by the salt spray and cursing the name of the sibling that caused her death. My name... My fault....

Oh, Jenna, I have lost you again...

Jenna is the reason I wanted to light the beacon. I went along with Saturos and Menardi only because of her, because of our family, so we could be together once more in Vale the way we were before the boulder came and ruined everything. I wanted to for us to laugh together, to live together without danger or fear looming over us. I wanted to do things like we used to; strawberry picking on Mt. Aleph, fishing in the river, playing games with the other village children. I remember playing Capture the Flag with Isaac and Garet in the town square. Jenna would always tackle me, instead of merely tagging me like she was supposed to. I long for even the stupid little things like that, because they are symbols of a happy life, a _normal_ life like the one other children have. I thought that lighting the beacon would bring those times back, perhaps restore some semblance of my childhood. But now, now that Jenna is...is gone... I can see that that thought was nothing but a lie. I seem to be lying increasingly often these days- to Jenna, to Isaac and Garet, and to myself. The lie of the lighthouses, instead of preserving my family, has destroyed it utterly.

_Jenna, Sheba, I'm SORRY!_ I want to shout. I have failed them... failed them all... It is my fault for everything. If I had not been so clumsy and fallen in the river that night three years ago, none of this would have happened. No one would have been kidnapped, no families torn apart. Isaac would still have his father, and Jenna, her family. My family... but I don't deserve to have a family. I don't deserve to have any happiness, because I have deprived so many others of theirs.

My legs are beginning to tire from treading water so long, and the numbness in my limbs snaps me back to harsh reality. I need to find land, fast, or both Sheba and I will drown. I do not deserve to live, but she does. It is not her fault that Saturos and Menardi kidnapped her, not her fault that the stupid Laliveran villagers believe she is a holy child because of her powers. She deserves life just as much as I do not. For we are complete and utter opposites, she and I-- she is just as good and pure and beautiful as I am not. And I will not fail her. I will _not_! For the sake of her, of dead Jenna, of my parents languishing somewhere in frozen Prox, I must find land. I must, if only to know that Sheba is alive. I will willingly go to Hell for my crimes, if only I can be sure that she, at least, is safe.

Now I have found a current, running swiftly just beneath the surface of the waves. It carries us away from the lighthouse, two Adepts far out of their element, who have survived the mocking of the air only to be devoured by the raging teeth of the ocean. Far away, now, the lighthouse stands, with the crying cliff-child below it calling to us to come and play. But we are out of its reach. At least now we are spared the quick death by pulverization against the rocks. Instead, we face a slow demise by fatigue on the open ocean.

I let the current carry me, concentrating all my efforts into treading water and keeping Sheba's head above the waves. More and more, I become aware of just how tired I am. Each kick of my legs becomes a supreme struggle of will as my mind screams at me to stop and just let the end come, and my heart screams just as loud to keep going. The water tugs at my sodden clothing, threatening to pull me under, so I kick harder, willing myself with every ounce of strength I have left to stay afloat, stay alive at least long enough to see Sheba to safety. If I let myself be taken by the ocean, she will die. If I hadn't been there when she fell, she would have died. But then again, if I hadn't been there, she might not have been in that situation in the first place...

We are pulled farther and farther out into the ocean, until the Lighthouse is all that can be seen of the shoreline. I begin to wonder if this current is actually the best option after all. What if we never come near land again? What if the water merely carries us so far out that we cannot hope to swim back to shore, and then deposits us, watching and cheering as we slowly drown? Just as these thoughts run through my mind, I spot something up ahead. It appears to be an island, except... 

It's moving?

I have never heard of such a thing before. A moving island... Kraden would have been ecstatic to study it. However... Kraden is in the same place as my sister, wherever that is.

I decide this island, moving or not, is our only hope for survival. It has a beach on the near side, and I think that, with a little luck, I will be able to make it. Kicking out, I swim with the current towards the distant island. 

The shore is only about fifty yards away now, but I am dead tired and I am unsure if I have the strength to make it. I force myself to kick a little harder, to reach the tantalizing sand of the shore just out of my grasp. The beach becomes my whole focus. I am only aware of it, the movement of my limbs in the water, and Sheba, who I am pulling along with me. Nothing else matters; not the sun, or the waves, or the wind, or the heaviness of my wet garments and boots or the fatigue in my arms and legs. 

Only a few more feet... I can make it. I _must_ make it. I am so close...

Just a little farther... 

My feet touch the sandy bottom and I topple over, half in and half out of the water on the island beach. I have barely enough strength to turn over and move my head out of the waves to breathe, but I know I must get farther up the shoreline. If I don't, all my work will be for naught when the tides wash Sheba and I away again. I begin to crawl up the beach, dragging Sheba as gently as I can behind me, fighting fatigue and the force of gravity which say that my heavy, wet clothing should be glued to the sand. I manage to get just above the high-tide mark before I cannot move another muscle. I have just enough strength to make sure Sheba is still breathing before I collapse. She is still in my arms, after all we have been through, and after I lie there a few moments she begins to stir.

"...mmm...Felix?" she says, opening her enormous green eyes. I smile slightly, using up what little remainder of energy I have left. I try to speak and tell her that she's safe, but no words come out. 

"Where are we? Are we on land?" she asks, looking around. I nod slightly, still unable to get sound to escape my lips. She seems to have more energy than me, though, and smiles broadly when she sees my nod. 

"We're alive!" she says happily, giving me a hug. She evidently has more energy than I do. I stare up at her, looking deep into those green eyes, the same color as the treacherous ocean that had almost claimed our lives. Green, like the sea... green, like the grass. Green, the color of new hope and life. As I stare into those eyes, I am suddenly swept up in a wave of passion. Our lips meet for the second time today, though this time the kiss is gentle and not fueled by the desperation of near-certain death. 

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

A sudden voice startles us, and we jerk apart swiftly. The abrupt movement makes me dizzy, and, dazed, I search for the source of the voice. There, standing a few feet away from Sheba and I is Alex, a smug expression across his normally emotionless features.

"Your sister will be very interested by this ," the Mercury Adept continues, surveying my somewhat compromising position.

"Oh, go away, Alex," Sheba says angrily. He merely displays his very best mysterious and annoying smirk, and teleports away. 

"That guy..." Sheba mutters, before turning back to me. Suddenly, her face grows concerned. "Felix are you all right?'

I shake my head slowly. My long trip on the ocean is beginning to catch up with me, and I feel exhausted and slightly nauseous from my attempt to remain awake. I try to say something in reply to her anxious inquiry, but suddenly I am unable to think at all. Incapable of fighting the fatigue any longer, I fall back onto the sand as the darkness that has been clamoring for my consciousness for the past hour or so consumes me. Sheba's panicky voice calling my name is the last thing I hear before I black out...

..._Sheba...._ _you're... safe now..._

_I'm... sorry..._

_"Felix... Sheba..."_

_"They're...they're alive!"_

_"They're really alive!"_

_"What is this? Alex, what happened?"_

_"Help me carry them farther up the beach..."_

_"Felix... Felix, can you hear me? Felix...?"_

"Felix... are you awake?"

Alex's voice cuts through the darkness like a knife. I blink my eyes. The sun is directly overhead, temporarily blinding me. I shut my eyes quickly, wait for them to adjust to the light, and then open them again to see Alex standing over me, looking worried. Or at least, as worried as Alex can ever be about another person, which isn't much.

I sit up, noticing that I am not lying on sand anymore. I am no longer on the beach, which means someone must have moved me. And Sheba... where is she? Panic seizes me for a moment, until I turn my head and see her standing beside me, her face creased with an anxious frown. When she sees that I am all right, she relaxes and gives me a small smile.

"Ah! Felix, you're awake!" exclaims another, familiar voice. A voice whose annoying lectures I have heard far too often on this journey. It is unmistakably the scholar Kraden. Wait- Kraden was on Idejima... If he is here, that means maybe _this_ is Idejima... and maybe--

"Brother..."

Jenna... Jenna....is alive. Jenna is alive! My heart leaps higher and it is all I can do to keep myself from jumping up and hugging her as tight as I can. Instead, I carefully stand up.

"Are you sure you should be standing?" she asks. I wonder about that, myself... I feel rather shaky on my feet, and my muscles are dead tired after swimming so far. However, I must see if everyone is all right.

I look around, taking in the scenery. As I suspected, Jenna and Kraden stand behind me, along with Alex and Sheba to one side. The familiar outlines of the bushes and trees around me confirm my conjecture on the identity of my landing-place- this is, indeed, Idejima.

"You don't seem very surprised to find yourself on a floating island." Kraden says. I turn to him, slightly confused at his question.

"Felix, once you saved Sheba, you must have swum out here, correct?" Alex asks.

All too correct, I think, but to Alex, I give a small nod. I am much too worn out to talk.

"You must have seen that this island was floating when you were swimming." he finishes, looking very pleased with himself for figuring it out.

"But what do we do now?" Jenna asks.

"I have no idea." Sheba says, her quiet voice making each word sound like music to my tired ears. Her voice... I thought I would never hear it again. "Nobody knows what lies beyond the Eastern Sea."

"Unfortunately, I am a student of Alchemy, not geography..." Kraden says, frowning. He is about to say something else, when Alex suddenly runs towards the coast and looks out.

"What is it... Alex?" Sheba asks. 

"What's the matter?" Kraden grumbles, annoyed that his train of thought was interrupted.

"Can't you see it?" Alex says, smiling and pointing towards an object on the horizon. Kraden and Jenna immediately hurry over towards him, but Sheba pauses and smiles up at me before following them. I place my arm around her waist and look out to sea with the others.

"It's land! An island!" Jenna shouts, her voice pounding like a sledgehammer into my head. I wince. I am still extremely tired from my ordeal in the ocean, and my sister's shouting is not helping at all.

"It's a little... big for an island." Sheba remarks in a much lower tone, for which I am grateful.

"That's no island... It's a new continent!" Kraden shouts, even louder than Jenna. I flinch and bring my hands up to my ears.

"We're saved!" Jenna yells happily, jumping up and down. Sheba shoots her a glance that says, _Could you stop being so loud, please?_ but she doesn't notice. 

"So it would seem..." Kraden replies, just as happily. 

"Wait..." Sheba says after a moment, looking at the continent. I give her a quizzical look. What has she seen?

"What is it?" Jenna asks, fortunately no longer yelling.

"We're going to pass north of the continent..."

"She's right!" Kraden exclaims, peering seaward. The island is clearly veering off to the left, away from the nearing shoreline. 

"I don't think we're going to make it!" Sheba says, her voice betraying her fear. I tighten my grip around her waist reassuringly. 

"Oh, Kraden... Felix... What are we going to do?" Jenna asks, desperately. I just shake my head. I cannot think anymore. ...Wait a second... What is that rumbling noise?

"Oh... this can't be good." Kraden says, flatly. He has heard the sound as well. I turn to look out to sea-- and freeze in shock.

"What... is it?" Jenna asks, noticing my reaction. I merely point towards the horizon.

A gigantic wall of water is barreling over the ocean surface. It blocks out the horizon, a huge wave of salty liquid towering into the sky. Moreover, it is coming straight towards us.

"It's... a tidal wave." Sheba says. 

"A tidal wave?" Jenna asks. 

"The earthquake must have caused it!"

"Oh... Oh my... It's coming right at us!" Kraden yells. The girls begin to panic, both instinctively clinging to me. I merely watch the water coming towards us. I have already cheated death twice today, there is no reason to believe I won't a third time. Besides, there is nothing I can do, anyway.

Alex, who has been silent for a while now, merely stands watching the wave with a strange smile on his face. I get the feeling he is almost... happy that it is coming. I don't think I will ever understand Mercury Adepts.

"Alex... How can you stay so calm at a time like this?" Jenna asks angrily, while cutting off the circulation in my left arm. 

"At times like this, what would be the good in panicking?" Alex responds evenly, without the calm expression ever leaving his face.

"We'll be washed away!" Sheba wails, while making my right arm as numb as my left. 

"Help!!!" shouts Kraden, as if anyone can hear him. He starts to run, but it is too late.

Half a second later, the wave comes down. I shut my eyes as tons and tons of liquid steel rains down over me. The pressure is too much for my already weakened body to handle. Darkness begins to cloud my vision, and I am vaguely aware of being lifted into the air by the water before I succumb.

When I come to again, I find myself lying once more on the ground, a bit wetter than before, with both Jenna and Sheba gone from my arms. I sit up, and shake my head before standing up. After checking myself for injuries, which seem to be negligible apart from an intense fatigue, I sit up and look around for the others. Fortunately, I soon spot Jenna lying not too far away. Getting to my feet, I hurry over and kneel beside her. She doesn't look in very good condition. Her face is chalk-white, and her breathing is shallow. Worried, I gently shake her shoulder.

"Jenna?" I ask. "Jenna, are you all right?" There is no answer. I begin to panic, but then she groans and stirs.

"What?" she says, coming to groggily. I am glad to see the color returning to her cheeks. She blinks her crimson eyes several times and stares up at me, confused. "What am I doing down here?"

"The tidal wave..." I answer, helping her to her feet. She leans against me, breathing deeply and trying to make sense of my words.

"Oh!" she says after a few seconds, her confusion dissipating. "I must have blacked out when the wave hit..."

I nod, happy to see she is back to her old self. She embraces me briefly, then pulls away, exclaiming, "Hey! We've hit land!"

I turn to follow her gaze. Indeed, Idejima is now connected with another continent. A tall mountain range is visible in the distance, rising above a green plain. The vegetation looks different from that of Angara or the parts of Gondowan I have seen so far, more tropical looking. It is strange to see the normal Angara trees on Idejima suddenly change into lush ferns and jungle plants on the mainland.

"That wave must have carried us here! What luck!" Jenna continues. I smile, still to tired to say much else. I hope we can find a town on the mainland soon. I don't think I can walk very much farther without collapsing.

"Have you checked everyone else? Are they all right?" Jenna asks suddenly, a concerned look on her face. She looks around in all directions, to see if she can spot any sign of Sheba, Kraden, or Alex.

I shake my head. "I haven't seen them yet..."

"Then let's go find them and get off this island!" she says briskly, pulling me along by the arm. 

We spot Kraden fairly easily. He is lying unconscious on the beach to the right of where I was deposited by the wave.

"Oogh..." he mumbles, slowly regaining consciousness. "Oh... Felix..." he says, noticing me after a few moments. He jumps up, rubbing his arm. 

"Ouch..." he mumbles. "That was quite a blow..."

Jenna scowls. "Of course it was! We were hit by a giant wall of water, y'know!"

"What happened when that wave hit?" Kraden asks, ignoring Jenna's comment. I start to answer, but already, the scholar is looking around at the rest of the island. "Felix, look!" he exclaims, apparently no longer interested in what I have to say about the wave. "That wave carried us to the continent!"

Jenna and I nod. We already noticed.

"We've hit solid land!" Kraden continues, still oblivious to everyone else. "Let's go, Felix!"

The three of us continue to search around the island, calling out for Sheba and Alex as we go. I am beginning to grow worried. We have been looking for over half an hour now, and we cannot find any trace of them. _What if Sheba was washed back into the ocean?_ a nasty little voice at the back of my head suggests. _You've failed her again, Felix... It was your responsibility to protect her, and now she's disappeared!_

_No..._ I answer the voice harshly. _She's around here somewhere, she has to be!_

_Ah, but what if she's not? _the voice persists. _What... if she's dead?_

_Just be quiet!_ I say firmly, pushing the voice to the back of my mind. Thinking like that would get me nowhere. 

"Felix..." Kraden says, after another fruitless round of the island. "I don't see Sheba anywhere... Perhaps ...we should move on?"

"No!" I say. "She has to be around here... I mean, we all survived the wave, she must have too!"

"Felix..." Jenna says, hesitantly. "I don't think we're going to find her on the island... Maybe she was washed somewhere else?"

I just shake my head, unwilling to accept that. Sheba _must_ be here, she has to... She just has too... I worked so hard to save her in the ocean, I am not about to let her die now!

"Come, Felix." Kraden sighs. "Let's see if we can find a town... and reconnoiter...We can... we can keep looking later..."

I do not know what to do. Part of me realizes that what Kraden is saying makes sense, while another part says that going along with him would mean abandoning Sheba. I stand still a moment, buying time, unable to decide. Should I go and come back later, in the hopes that she will still be all right? Or should I continue searching, though I am extremely tired and the situation looks relatively hopeless? 

"Wa--Wait!" 

Without warning, a familiar voice rings out to the right of us. My heart leaps into my throat. Could it be? 

We all turn in time to see Sheba stumble out of a nearby clump of bushes on top of a small dirt rise. She smiles down at us, looking a bit unsteady on her feet and covered with sticks and leaves, but otherwise all in one piece. Relief washes through my mind. She is all right! 

Skidding down the embankment, she nearly falls over when a rock slides out from underneath her feet. Fortunately, I manage to catch her in time. She stares up at me reprovingly. "Weren't you worried about me in the slightest?" she asks. "Did you rescue me from the lighthouse just to leave me for dead on this island?"

"We were looking for you, Sheba, I--" I begin, but Kraden immediately interrupts, apparently unawares that I was even speaking. 

"Now, I'm sure he meant to do no thing..."

"I wonder..." Sheba says, glaring up at me.

"Sheba, I--" I begin again, but she stops me, giggling. 

"Oh, don't give me that sad face..." she says, pulling herself to her feet and giving me a hug. "You know I can't stay mad at you..."

My cheeks turn a bit red. Jenna notices and begins sniggering behind Sheba's back. I shoot her a very potent death glare that doesn't seem to deter her in the slightest.

"After all, you did save me, Felix." Sheba continues. "I won't soon forget that... But don't leave me behind like that again, OK?"

I nod fervently, earning more sniggers from Jenna. I decide that while I am glad Jenna is alive, she can be very, very, VERY annoying sometimes.

But then again, I suppose that's what little sisters are for, right? To be annoying...

"So that big wave pushed us aground?" Sheba asks, releasing me and looking around at the surroundings. "Way to go, Nature!" She stops for a moment, then looks at me quizzically. "What's out here, anyway?"

"That's what we were about to find out!" Kraden says, the familiar light of curiosity in his eyes. 

"...Let's get started, then!" Sheba answers, looking at Kraden with a little apprehension. We all know what Kraden can be like when he gets into a studying mood. I remember one time in Kolima especially clearly. Alex and I had to physically stop the scholar from uprooting several of the tree-people in order to examine them more closely. Of course, Sheba wasn't traveling with us then, but she has been around long enough to realize that Kraden plus new things to research equals trouble. It is almost a universal law. It would not do to tell that to Kraden, however-- he would probably want to start studying it to see if it is true.

"By the way..." Kraden suddenly says, turning his gaze away from the distant mountains of the continent and back to the three of us. "Where has Alex gone?"

Alex! I had completely forgotten about him, preoccupied as I was with finding Sheba. So, apparently, had all the others, as when Kraden mentions him they all look startled.

"That's right!" Sheba exclaims. "Where is he?"

"Maybe we should just leave him here." Jenna mutters. "It would serve him right, the self-centered jerk."

"Jenna, why are you so against Alex all of a sudden?" I ask. 

"He doesn't seem to be anywhere on the island." Kraden continues, interrupting Jenna's answer. "You don't think he set out on his own, do you?"

"It's possible..." I say. "Alex isn't exactly the type to be very worried about anyone else. He probably went off on some weird mission of his own that we won't learn anything about until he abruptly appears later on to save the day with whatever he's come up with."

"Sounds like Alex, all right." Jenna grumbles.

"Then I guess there's no reason to look for him here." Kraden says, then pauses. "But why would he..." Suddenly, his eyes light up. "He might have gone to look for a ship."

"Alex wants a ship?" Jenna says, confused.

"Did you forget what he was saying?" Kraden asks, looking at me. I just shake my head. Alex never really told anyone why he wanted to come along on our quest so badly. Kraden notices my gesture, and continues. "He wants to return Alchemy to its former place in the world."

_Oh!_ I think. Now I remember. Alex told me something of the sort when he first joined us a year or so ago... It didn't then, and even now still doesn't fully explain his motives for lighting the lighthouses. However, Alex has never been one to reveal his intentions to anyone until the last minute.

"By lighting the four elemental lighthouses, he might just succeed." Jenna comments. 

"But why the ship?" Sheba asks.

"The remaining two lighthouses are unreachable by land." Kraden answers. "None remain to be lit across the Eastern Sea."

Jenna looks puzzled. "So what should we--"

"We must go to the Great Western Sea..." Kraden continues, nodding to Jenna. 

"The Western Sea..." Sheba muses, a strange, faraway look in her eyes.

"Is that where we're going, Felix?" my sister asks. I nod.

"Yes..." I elaborate. "Jupiter Lighthouse is on Atteka, in the Western Sea."

"Well said, Felix!" Kraden says, although I get the distinct feeling he wasn't listening to a word I said beyond 'yes'. "And go there we shall!"

"That's right!" exclaims Jenna. "Our parents lives depend on it!"

I nod again, thinking back on my parents, still in Prox somewhere. _Mom, Dad, I almost failed you today..._ _But I promise you, I will light the lighthouses and save you. I promise..._

"What about you, Sheba?" Kraden suddenly asks. 

"What do you mean?" she answers. 

"It's... not going to be an easy trip." Jenna says. That is an understatement. We have to walk across whatever continent this is to find a ship, and then we must sail it all the way around Gondowan to find Atteka. The trip is not going to be short, or smooth.

"And there is no reason you should have to face that danger... Right, Felix?" Kraden asks.

Why does he always have to run everything past me? He's the adult here, and half the time he never listens to my answer, anyway. "Well..." I say aloud, weighing the options. Sheba _would_ be safer back in Lalivero, but I do not really want to let her out of my sight after everything that has happened. I don't think she would like being left behind much, either. At any rate, there is no way to get her back to Gondowan until we find a boat. I shake my head. "No, I think we should let her come along." 

"Felix remembers..." Sheba says, smiling. "I have a reason to be traveling with you..."

Yes, there is that, too. I remember the night in the Suhalla Desert, just after Saturos and Menardi found her. She was frightened out of her wits, so I talked to her to try and calm her down. She ended up confiding in me about how she felt growing up without a real family, without a past... It must be very hard not to know who your real parents are, or even if they are still alive. When I mentioned Jupiter Lighthouse and how her powers seemed similar to those wielded by Jupiter Adepts, she seemed interested. Later, she told me that she thought that maybe, if she went to the Lighthouse, she could find out more about her mysterious origins. However, she made me promise not to tell anyone else, and I agreed. 

"What do you mean, Sheba? What reason?" Kraden asks, puzzled.

"It's... my destiny..." Sheba says vaguely, looking up at the sky. 

"This quest is your... destiny?" Jenna says, her brow furrowed as she tries to make sense of the Jupiter Adept's cryptic statement. Sheba makes no reply, simply turning away and staring out to sea.

"And you couldn't tell us about this earlier?" Kraden asks.

She nods, still gazing blankly at some point on the horizon.

"But how can we trust you when we don't even know why you're with us?" Jenna asks skeptically. I glare at her, but she doesn't seem to notice.

"I'm sorry... But please, you have to take me! You must! You need me!" Sheba says desperately.

"I don't understand. Why exactly do we need you?" Kraden asks.

_Why exactly do we need YOU, Kraden? _I remark silently, but I don't dare voice this thought aloud. Kraden can be very scary when he's mad. Even scarier than when he's studying something, if that's possible...

"You know that I'm an Adept, don't you?" Sheba asks. Jenna and Kraden nod, and she continues. "I can control the wind, as Felix already knows..."

"You knew she was a Wind Adept?" Kraden says, looking astonished. 

I nod. "It wasn't _that_ difficult to figure out."

"Saturos must have mentioned it atop the Lighthouse..." he mutters, ignoring my answer. "I see..."

"They saw that I was a Wind Adept right away..." Sheba says. "They kidnapped me for my powers... they needed them on their journey."

"Oh, yeah!" exclaims Jenna. "They would have needed an alignment that complimented their own."

"They said they would need a Wind Adept in order to light Jupiter's beacon."

"Ah, of course..." mutters Kraden, mulling over the new information. "And I suspect we'll need your power there as well."

Sheba smiles. "So you see, you do need me."

"All right..." Jenna concedes. "I guess I understand now." She turns to me, and asks, "But you want to know what she means by destiny, too, don't you?"

I shake my head. "She'll tell us when she's ready."

Jenna scowls. "Oh, so it's just me? Too bad I can't read minds like Sheba, huh?"

Kraden looks a little put out as well. "I'm sure she will tell us in her own time. Won't you, Sheba?" he says, repeating what I just stated. Again, I wonder if Kraden ever really listens to me... 

Sheba nods, smiling slightly.

"I think, for now, that we should simply trust Sheba." Kraden says, decisively. "Now, I am quite famished. Shall we get moving?"

I nod fervently. I am hungry, and bone-weary to boot. Even a simple tent would be heaven to me right now, not to mention an inn, with real beds, hot food, and showers. My clothing is coated with seawater and my skin feels very salty and unpleasant. The girls evidently share my sentiments because Kraden's suggestion is greeted with immense good will.

"Yes, let's." says Sheba, relieved. "Maybe we can sleep in a bed for once. I haven't since I left Tolbi, and that was ages ago."

"C'mon!" Jenna says, yanking on my arm. "The sooner we find civilization, the sooner I can take a bath!"

"I thought Mars Adepts don't like the water." I say, as she pulls me along for several yards. 

"Sometimes, you have to go with the lesser of two evils." she replies. "Showering beats seawater any day."

"Right." I reply.

"Come on, Felix!" Jenna says urgently. "You're so slow!"

I sigh as she yanks me along deeper into the unknown reaches of this new continent, with Kraden and Sheba following along behind at a slower pace. As I glance back towards them, I get the distinct feeling they are laughing at me.

------

It takes several hours to reach civilization, which materializes in the form of a small farming town. From the looks of things, however, it doesn't appear that there will be any farming done here for a while. The fields are little more than muddy pools of seawater, drenched by the tidal wave that apparently swept straight through the village. Many of the villagers are out repairing their soggy dwellings from the water damage. The scene reminds me somewhat of that small mining town, Altin, that we stopped in once while we were still traveling with Saturos and Menardi.

The inn appears to be all right. It is a tiny place, with only two rooms, but they have no visitors at the moment and we are able to rent them without any difficulty. 

"I am very sorry, we don't have much in the way of variety to eat," the innkeeper says apologetically as we check in. "The wave has scattered the fish, and the sea warming recently isn't helping much either."

"That's all right," Kraden replies. "As long as you've got beds available, we'll be happy."

Kraden and I are sharing one room while Jenna and Sheba get the other. I envy them for it is not very fun to sleep in the same room as the scholar. He snores very loudly, and also has a tendency to sleeptalk about Alchemy. Listening to lectures about the Elemental Stars at two in the morning is not my idea of a good time. However, there are only two rooms and someone had to share with Kraden, and as I am the 'leader' of this party, the girls immediately volunteered me to be the unlucky victim.

After settling in, there still are a few hours before sunset. Kraden mumbles something about 'observing the social habits of this unique ethnic society' and heads in the direction of the pub. This leaves Sheba, Jenna and I to our own devices.

The girls are doing something, and I am alone in my room. I contemplate going to bed but find that I have too much on my mind. Everything has happened so quickly over the past few hours and it is just beginning to sink in. Saturos and Menardi are dead. Isaac has killed them. I suppose they deserve it, the way they'd been acting recently. Although their intentions were to save their village, I have always thought that they were a bit too ruthless in pursuing that goal. Kidnapping my parents, holding them and Isaac's father hostage... Furthermore, they insisted on fighting Isaac instead of trying to talk it out. I'm sure Isaac would go along with it if... if he knew...

And then, there's the matter of Kraden's theory.

I rest my elbows on my knees, staring out the single window at the sun setting behind the mountains. Even with Saturos and Menardi gone, I must continue the quest. For my parents, for Isaac's father, for Jenna and Sheba... for the whole world. I close my eyes. How did things get to be this complicated? How did it end up that the fate of the world is suddenly thrown across my shoulders? Me, whowas stupidly fooling around and fell in the river, ending up getting himself and three grownups captured and held hostage? Me, who abandoned his sister for three years and then when he finally returned to his hometown, was so afraid of facing her that he hid behind a mask? Me, who very nearly got this same sister and the woman he loves _killed_ today, _again_ because of stupidity. If only I had done as Saturos and Menardi said and left the lighthouse, instead of lingering to watch the battle. Sheba wouldn't have fallen, you wouldn't have risked her life. Everything, _everything_ that has happened on this quest is my fault. If I hadn't fallen in the river, Isaac would have had a father for those three years. If I had just shown myself to everyone that day in Vale, perhaps this whole hostage situation could have been averted. So many lives twisted out of control, all because of me.

_You got the world into this mess, Felix, and you're the one who will have to get it out again. It's your fault for everything, and you know it._

_For everything, Felix. It's your fault. YOURS._

_Now you must pay the price. Saturos and Menardi are gone. You must play the villain alone, and take all the blame. You deserve it, anyway._

*_That's not true.*_

Another voice breaks into my thoughts and a hand is placed on my shoulder. I look up, startled. Sheba is standing there, slowing slightly blue as she uses her Psynergy to speak into my mind.

*_It's not your fault, Felix. You've been the victim of a series of unfortunate circumstances, but it has _never_ been your fault.*_

_You almost died today, Sheba, _I think back miserably. _Because of me._

_*But I didn't die. And why is that? Because _you_ jumped off the lighthouse and saved me. _You _pulled me ashore that island. Don't try to deny it, I wasn't unconscious the whole time. I could feel you pulling me along. If _you_ weren't there, I would have drowned. You _saved_ my life, Felix. You didn't endanger it. Who but a true hero would jump off a lighthouse to help someone like me?*_

_I only jumped because... because I..._

*_Because you love me?* _she volunteered. *_Felix, that just proves that you're a hero, not a scoundrel. No evil person can feel love. You're not evil, Felix. You didn't endanger the world. And I know you're never going to.*_

_*And there was another thing you were wrong about,* _she continued, sitting down on the bed beside me and making me turn so we were eye to eye._ *You're not going to have to play the villain alone, because I'll be here with you, wherever you go.*_

Then her green eyes pull me in, and for the third time that day our lips meet in a kiss. For once, I think, neither of us are on the verge of dying or passing out. A moment later, however, this thought it driven from my mind as the kiss deepens and all I know are the twin whirlpools of Sheba's eyes. Again, our hearts and minds are locked together, as during that fateful fall when death seemed imminent and unavoidable and we struggled to express our feelings before the impending crush of the water. However, unlike then, we are calm. It is the universe that is falling now. The world around us is in turmoil, but Sheba and I are an island of serenity in the midst of a sea of storms.

And in this single, precious moment, after three and a half years of bitter suffering, at last I find peace.

*~THE END~* 

----------------------------------------------- 

What a nice, sickeningly sappy ending. Yeech. Still, there aren't enough Felix/Sheba's in the world, so I might as well make it fluffy. [shakes head] Oh, well, that's finished. Now, I'd better leave before Sheba wakes up--

Sheba: [appears from the darkness] Hola.

o_O Uh, hi, Sheba.. Er, what are you doing up so late?

Sheba: [takes keyboard and types] _I could ask you the same question. You're writing Felix/Sheba fanfics behind my back again, eh?_

Um, no, no, what makes you think that? [looks really nervous]

Sheba: [typing] _I can read minds, stupid._

Um... he heh... [looks around] Um, please review everyone! Now I'd better be going... [dives for the door] Later!

Sheba: [typing] _Griffin!!! I'll get you for this!!! Just wait!_

Note to self: Muses are _far_ more trouble then they are worth...


End file.
